Where do valedictorians from “meh” schools go?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

She should be able to get to a top 25 as long as she has a good sat score 1500+.

Nope. Plenty of kids with 1600 are rejected from T25 schools every year.

Yes but plenty of those kids come from highly populated metro areas where those stats are very common. This kid has a hook: rural.

how do you know rural is a hook?

Geographic diversity and less competition.

does geographic diversity "count" within states though? i went to a pretty, uh, inadequate high school in rural southern illinois and I'm not sure that counted for anything. Pretty sure I was still competing with the kids from the New Triers and Walter Paytons (i.e., the hyper competitive high schools in the Chicago area) of the state. If anything I feel as though it was probably a disadvantage because my school had no track record of ever sending kids to Ivies or even kids applying to them.

It doesn't, and geographic diversity is always overstated. State flagships, may consider regional diversity, that's the way to play that hand.

+10000. If you live in Wyoming or Alaska, it may be good for something because colleges love to be able to say "we have students from all 50 states!" Otherwise? "Rural" is not a geographic diversity hook, especially if you are rural in a state such as say, Illinois or New York or Pennsylvania that also have highly educated metro areas with a lot of students applying.

It works for UVA instate. Better to be the valedictorian in rural VA than the 15% of Woodson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

She should be able to get to a top 25 as long as she has a good sat score 1500+.

Nope. Plenty of kids with 1600 are rejected from T25 schools every year.

Yes but plenty of those kids come from highly populated metro areas where those stats are very common. This kid has a hook: rural.

how do you know rural is a hook?

Geographic diversity and less competition.

does geographic diversity "count" within states though? i went to a pretty, uh, inadequate high school in rural southern illinois and I'm not sure that counted for anything. Pretty sure I was still competing with the kids from the New Triers and Walter Paytons (i.e., the hyper competitive high schools in the Chicago area) of the state. If anything I feel as though it was probably a disadvantage because my school had no track record of ever sending kids to Ivies or even kids applying to them.

It doesn't, and geographic diversity is always overstated. State flagships, may consider regional diversity, that's the way to play that hand.

+10000. If you live in Wyoming or Alaska, it may be good for something because colleges love to be able to say "we have students from all 50 states!" Otherwise? "Rural" is not a geographic diversity hook, especially if you are rural in a state such as say, Illinois or New York or Pennsylvania that also have highly educated metro areas with a lot of students applying.

It works for UVA instate. Better to be the valedictorian in rural VA than the 15% of Woodson.

no sh*t sherlock, that's not what people are talking about

[Anonymous]

I went to a “meh” rural public HS in VA in the 90s and have knowledge of trends since then.

Our valedictorians almost exclusively went to/go to UVa. They are typically the only member of a graduating class that goes there. The rest of the top 20% goes to Tech & JMU.

The next 20% goes to VCU, Radford, or, if your parents have/had $$, maybe a SLAC.

Everyone else did CC + maybe transfer or trades.

[Anonymous]

How rural? I remember our Ivy admissions office was always pissed when they didn’t have someone from all 50 states and said “get me someone from Wyoming!”

They have as good a shot as anyone else for getting in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

She should be able to get to a top 25 as long as she has a good sat score 1500+.

Nope. Plenty of kids with 1600 are rejected from T25 schools every year.

Yes but plenty of those kids come from highly populated metro areas where those stats are very common. This kid has a hook: rural.

how do you know rural is a hook?

Geographic diversity and less competition.

does geographic diversity "count" within states though? i went to a pretty, uh, inadequate high school in rural southern illinois and I'm not sure that counted for anything. Pretty sure I was still competing with the kids from the New Triers and Walter Paytons (i.e., the hyper competitive high schools in the Chicago area) of the state. If anything I feel as though it was probably a disadvantage because my school had no track record of ever sending kids to Ivies or even kids applying to them.

It doesn't, and geographic diversity is always overstated. State flagships, may consider regional diversity, that's the way to play that hand.

+10000. If you live in Wyoming or Alaska, it may be good for something because colleges love to be able to say "we have students from all 50 states!" Otherwise? "Rural" is not a geographic diversity hook, especially if you are rural in a state such as say, Illinois or New York or Pennsylvania that also have highly educated metro areas with a lot of students applying.

It works for UVA instate. Better to be the valedictorian in rural VA than the 15% of Woodson.

no sh*t sherlock, that's not what people are talking about

Actually it is. You have serious anger issues.

[Anonymous]

OP, if it really matters to you for her to go to a prestige college (I disagree that this is important, but you do you), hire a private college counselor from a big city. Focus on getting her to prove herself academically outside of her school (crush the APs by studying beyond class, do academic competitions), get a meaningful service project going that is tied to a passion she has so she can write well about it, etc. Some schools look for rural kids who are actively involved in rural issues and pursuits (4H, lobbying for rural concerns, assisting with rural health care, etc.).

[Anonymous]

I live in a small town VA, (not NOVA) and the valedictorian of my kids HS 2 years ago went to Stanford, last year Yale-- I know both families, they have both very impressive resumes. The Stanford kid is now double majoring in STEM majors, and doing very well.

VA schools have the governor's school system and even in the rural areas, kids have access to pretty rigorous academics, so I am not worried about college readiness of my kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The valedictorian in my son's class went to Yale. This is a MCPS high school that DCUM regularly disparages, and is seen as a negative if you are looking at real estate in the cluster.

The valedictorian in my graduating class in an average, small mid-west town went to Arizona State on a full scholarship, including room & board. He was accepted everywhere he applied, but only Arizona State gave the full package and let him choose his major.

Very selfish and short-sighted decision. You go to Arizona State, you better stay in Arizona or maybe southern California if you want that to pay off. But what good does that do? Another parent at my high school met with Boston College's financial aid office because they only offered a little bit of need-based aid. The Financial Aid person said they could sell their house or take out loans. But the parent really didn't love their kid that much, so they took the state school ride the way your valedictorian did.

Short-sighted.

So totally off base. What you do in college is much more important than where you go to college

Plenty of successful people come out of "state schools" and many even leave the state they went to college. Doesn't matter where you get most undergrad degrees. Would never ever recommend someone go into debt if they have opportunity to attend a good college without any or much debt

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

She should be able to get to a top 25 as long as she has a good sat score 1500+.

Nope. Plenty of kids with 1600 are rejected from T25 schools every year.

Yes but plenty of those kids come from highly populated metro areas where those stats are very common. This kid has a hook: rural.

how do you know rural is a hook?

Geographic diversity and less competition.

does geographic diversity "count" within states though? i went to a pretty, uh, inadequate high school in rural southern illinois and I'm not sure that counted for anything. Pretty sure I was still competing with the kids from the New Triers and Walter Paytons (i.e., the hyper competitive high schools in the Chicago area) of the state. If anything I feel as though it was probably a disadvantage because my school had no track record of ever sending kids to Ivies or even kids applying to them.

It doesn't, and geographic diversity is always overstated. State flagships, may consider regional diversity, that's the way to play that hand.

+10000. If you live in Wyoming or Alaska, it may be good for something because colleges love to be able to say "we have students from all 50 states!" Otherwise? "Rural" is not a geographic diversity hook, especially if you are rural in a state such as say, Illinois or New York or Pennsylvania that also have highly educated metro areas with a lot of students applying.

It works for UVA instate. Better to be the valedictorian in rural VA than the 15% of Woodson.

obviously, it works for UVA instate because UVA wants diversity amongst it's VA students. It's a state school funded largely by the state, so they need to be inclusive and make sure there are students from all Counties/areas.
But for an out of state school, the school only wants to be able to say "we have students from all 50 states"---where in those states doesn't matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

She should be able to get to a top 25 as long as she has a good sat score 1500+.

Nope. Plenty of kids with 1600 are rejected from T25 schools every year.

Yes but plenty of those kids come from highly populated metro areas where those stats are very common. This kid has a hook: rural.

how do you know rural is a hook?

Geographic diversity and less competition.

does geographic diversity "count" within states though? i went to a pretty, uh, inadequate high school in rural southern illinois and I'm not sure that counted for anything. Pretty sure I was still competing with the kids from the New Triers and Walter Paytons (i.e., the hyper competitive high schools in the Chicago area) of the state. If anything I feel as though it was probably a disadvantage because my school had no track record of ever sending kids to Ivies or even kids applying to them.

It doesn't, and geographic diversity is always overstated. State flagships, may consider regional diversity, that's the way to play that hand.

+10000. If you live in Wyoming or Alaska, it may be good for something because colleges love to be able to say "we have students from all 50 states!" Otherwise? "Rural" is not a geographic diversity hook, especially if you are rural in a state such as say, Illinois or New York or Pennsylvania that also have highly educated metro areas with a lot of students applying.

It works for UVA instate. Better to be the valedictorian in rural VA than the 15% of Woodson.

obviously, it works for UVA instate because UVA wants diversity amongst it's VA students. It's a state school funded largely by the state, so they need to be inclusive and make sure there are students from all Counties/areas.
But for an out of state school, the school only wants to be able to say "we have students from all 50 states"---where in those states doesn't matter.

And being “top of the class” (valedictorian) anywhere (meh included) is better than being 10% or 20% at an amazing high school.

OOS homeschooler got into UVA but lots of strong kids from Woodson, McLean, and Langley got rejected. But, “top of his class”. That’s the way it goes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my nephew and niece (siblings) both valedictorians who live in a fairly small rural town. He went to Yale and then Harvard law, she went to Stanford and dropped out junior year to join a startup.

We totally believe you. What, are they billionaires with a ranch in Montana or a horse farm in upstate New York?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The valedictorian in my son's class went to Yale. This is a MCPS high school that DCUM regularly disparages, and is seen as a negative if you are looking at real estate in the cluster.

The valedictorian in my graduating class in an average, small mid-west town went to Arizona State on a full scholarship, including room & board. He was accepted everywhere he applied, but only Arizona State gave the full package and let him choose his major.

Very selfish and short-sighted decision. You go to Arizona State, you better stay in Arizona or maybe southern California if you want that to pay off. But what good does that do? Another parent at my high school met with Boston College's financial aid office because they only offered a little bit of need-based aid. The Financial Aid person said they could sell their house or take out loans. But the parent really didn't love their kid that much, so they took the state school ride the way your valedictorian did.

Short-sighted.

WTF?? I went to Univ. of Arizona. Tuition Scholarship. Then I went to Georgetown for law. My 2 besties from UofA went to Northwestern, also for law. One of them turned down Yale law because Northwestern gave him a full ride. We all worked on the Hill, got clerkships, blah blah blah. Same as everyone else around here in DCUMland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We moved to a small college city (about 50k locals, grows to about 65k with the state university kids). My DD is on track to be valedictorian of her public HS class. This is not as impressive as it sounds. Almost all kids who are UMC here or a professor kid goes to the local private - the top kids from there go to places like Cornell, Michigan, Wisconsin, not many SLAC since kids here don’t know what Bates/bowdoin/Colby even are. We are sending our kids to public school for a variety of reasons. The top kids from the school (graduating classes of about 250) typically go to the state university honors program or another state university that has tuition reciprocity discounts for our region. DH and I went to fairly highly ranked schools (both non Ivy top 20s) and would love for our daughter to go somewhere like Georgetown, UVA, Hopkins, rice etc. At the end of sophomore year she is ranked number 1 in her class, straight As in honors courses (one A- in freshman math). This has not been hard or challenging for her at all. She’s taking all APs next year and will do the same senior year. It’s too early to say if it will still be manageable to have straight As, but it’s a definite possibility. She is a varsity athlete, but again, this is a random town and sports aren’t competitive - swimming and tennis everyone makes varsity, she won’t be recruited but may be a captain. She also does some very focused community service with the Native American community in our area and volunteers at the college art museum. Would a kid with this profile have a shot at the top 20 colleges now a days? I can say with confidence she would not stand out in the DMV - she was at a private in DC for elementary school - 7th grade and was a very average student. It’s just so much less competitive here I think it was a confidence boost. We’d be fine sending her to the flagship state school as well, but we would love for her to have a top 20 college experience. We will have SAT tutoring and hopefully her scores would be competitive, at least above the median. We are full pay but otherwise not special.

I've seen this similar play out hundreds of times: Your "superstar" kid goes to state flagship, declares pre-med and tells everyone they're going to be a surgeon, and by her second semester she's trying to get into the nursing program because the gunner pre-med kids who went to strong high schools are years ahead of her.

[Anonymous]

My niece graduated from a high school in Bumf*ck, Michigan. Went to Brown, just graduated, degree in computer science and will start at Facebook soon. She did well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved to a small college city (about 50k locals, grows to about 65k with the state university kids). My DD is on track to be valedictorian of her public HS class. This is not as impressive as it sounds. Almost all kids who are UMC here or a professor kid goes to the local private - the top kids from there go to places like Cornell, Michigan, Wisconsin, not many SLAC since kids here don’t know what Bates/bowdoin/Colby even are. We are sending our kids to public school for a variety of reasons. The top kids from the school (graduating classes of about 250) typically go to the state university honors program or another state university that has tuition reciprocity discounts for our region. DH and I went to fairly highly ranked schools (both non Ivy top 20s) and would love for our daughter to go somewhere like Georgetown, UVA, Hopkins, rice etc. At the end of sophomore year she is ranked number 1 in her class, straight As in honors courses (one A- in freshman math). This has not been hard or challenging for her at all. She’s taking all APs next year and will do the same senior year. It’s too early to say if it will still be manageable to have straight As, but it’s a definite possibility. She is a varsity athlete, but again, this is a random town and sports aren’t competitive - swimming and tennis everyone makes varsity, she won’t be recruited but may be a captain. She also does some very focused community service with the Native American community in our area and volunteers at the college art museum. Would a kid with this profile have a shot at the top 20 colleges now a days? I can say with confidence she would not stand out in the DMV - she was at a private in DC for elementary school - 7th grade and was a very average student. It’s just so much less competitive here I think it was a confidence boost. We’d be fine sending her to the flagship state school as well, but we would love for her to have a top 20 college experience. We will have SAT tutoring and hopefully her scores would be competitive, at least above the median. We are full pay but otherwise not special.

I've seen this similar play out hundreds of times: Your "superstar" kid goes to state flagship, declares pre-med and tells everyone they're going to be a surgeon, and by her second semester she's trying to get into the nursing program because the gunner pre-med kids who went to strong high schools are years ahead of her.

I've seen plenty of "pre med gunners" from strong high schools drop out of pre-med I taught at an OK but not great high school in central PA for three years and I can think of three former students off the top of my head who are in med school now...just saw a graduation post from someone who's headed to Northwestern for law school in the fall...keep in contact with an awesome student whose in the biomedical engineering PhD program at UMich. One of our early 2010s graduates was a Rhodes Scholar...